Douglas Elwin "Duke" Erikson (born January 15, 1951, in Nebraska), is an American songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer, best known as the guitarist of the alternative rock band Garbage, which has sold more than 17 million albums worldwide.[1] Before co-founding Garbage, Erikson was a founding member of the popular Midwestern bands Spooner and Fire Town.

Duke Erikson was born in Lyons, a small rural community in Nebraska. His first musical instrument was the piano, and his second was the guitar. At the age of 16 he joined his first band, The British, which was inspired by his passion for the British beat movement. The band performed at local dances and high-school hops, often publicizing their appearances with posters announcing that “The British Are Coming”. When Erikson completed his first scholastic cycle, he began studying art history at Wayne State College in Nebraska, where he taught drawing for “a couple of semesters”.[2] During this period he also worked as a carpenter and occasional truck driver.

Erikson formed the rock band Spooner in 1974 with two fellow musicians in Madison, Wisconsin. Erikson sang lead vocals, played keyboards and guitar, and became the band’s principal songwriter, his compositions being described as “strangely seductive” in the press.[citation needed] Spooner became a quartet when Butch Vig joined them on drums.[3] Spooner released two well-received albums, Every Corner Dance and The Wildest Dreams, and toured across the Midwest.[4]Rolling Stone magazine called their debut album “a convincing collection of sparkling pop music”, to which “Erikson’s edgy, poetic slice-of-small-town-life lyrics add a genuine, idiosyncratic touch”.[5]

In 1986, Erikson collaborated again with Vig to form the garage-rock band Fire Town, in which he played guitar and contributed vocals. The band released two albums, In the Heart of the Heart Country and The Good Life, the latter on Atlantic Records. Rolling Stone praised their debut as “a striking, thoughtful album” with “killer harmonies”.[6]

While Fire Town had disbanded by 1989, Spooner had an unexpected late resurgence: their single "Mean Old World" became a hit, prompting them to re-form, make a new album – The Fugitive Dance – and embark on a tour before they disbanded in 1993.[citation needed]

In addition to co-writing on the band's albums, contributing guitar, keyboards, and bass, Erikson was instrumental in the design of the distinctive artwork for their first two albums, Garbage and Version 2.0.[dubious– discuss][citation needed]

Garbage in concert in Los Angeles in 2012, with Erikson on the far right

In a major feature on the band for The Sunday Times in 1998, the British journalist Tony Barrell described Erikson’s persona in Garbage as “the cool dude with the goatee and the Mr Spockish demeanour”.[7] Though sometimes a taciturn presence in the band, Erikson has been known to contribute an air of dry humour to media interviews. During a discussion in 1996 about the interpersonal chemistry within Garbage, he deadpanned: "We have a little room where we go and cry."[8]

Erikson’s extracurricular projects include the production of other artists. He produced the single "If You Go" by the Greenlandic singer Simon Lynge, which received regular airplay in Britain during 2011 after being added to the BBC Radio 2 playlist.[9][dead link]